It’s Worker Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.

Unelected billionaire Elon Musk continues his unconstitutional steamrolling through the federal government under the guise of “efficiency” (with President Donald Trump’s blessing).

That includes:

Cuts at nonprofits everywhere after the loss of federal grants,
Thousands of Americans out of a job after USAID cut,
Firing federal watchdogs (which finally even drew the scrutiny of Sen. Chuck Grassley),
Threatening to purge the federal workforce (which could affect Black workers in particular).

It’s a lot to process. What a week, huh? (Lemon, it’s Wednesday.)

You may recall the gutting of worker protections began last week, when President Donald Trump ousted National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and a second board member, ostensibly leaving the NLRB without the ability to handle routine cases.

And while the NLRB clarified that it does have the authority to continue to process union representation and unfair labor practice cases, and Trump has since appointed a new general counsel, the president has made it clear in cozying up to CEOs that his whole goal is to get the 90-year-old National Labor Relations Act thrown out entirely.

There’s now a bill to completely cut OSHA, the agency charged with making sure workers are safe on the job. And it’s rumored that Musk will today target the Department of Labor, charged with protecting workers against the largess of CEOs like Musk.

It’s laughable that “picking on workers=prosperity” continues to flourish, but I suppose not surprising when you stack your cabinet with billionaires who benefit from this idea. In fact, there’s a much easier way to cut a large amount of money from the federal government; I wonder why Musk doesn’t want to do that?

But folks aren’t taking it lying down. This afternoon, in fact, there’s a protest at the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, much in the vein of this week’s Treasury Department protest. There are also protests in Iowa coming up.

And there are plenty of reasons not to be despondent: Eric Blanc writes in Jacobin that there are ways we can all get in the fight to stop this.

What are you doing to fight against Musk/Trump, or help your fellow workers get through tough times? Email me here.

Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Email me

This week’s Iowa worker news:

Paid parental leave could be coming for state employees, though it’s a bill that Gov. Kim Reynolds has tried to pass for three years now to no success. Will this be the year? (Iowa Public Radio)
UNI faculty asking for raises to cover inflation: United Faculty, the union covering University of Northern Iowa faculty, said Friday they were requesting 9.89% salary increases in their next two-year contract. “UNI faculty literally have seen the real value of their salaries decline nearly 10% over the past decade,” said UF president Christopher Martin. The Iowa Board of Regents, which sets salaries, countered with 3%. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Unsupervised 16-year-olds could be watching infants in your day care, if a new Iowa bill passes. Currently, 16-year-old daycare workers can only watch children older than 2. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Disabled adults want to work, but Medicaid income limits don’t allow it. They continue to press for a bill to fix this in the Iowa Legislature, but Republicans declined to pass it last year. (Iowa Public Radio) Bonus: The National Health Law Program is encouraging folks to join their Medicaid Day of Action tomorrow; learn more here.
Executive orders affecting you? The AFL-CIO is asking union members, federal workers, and others affected by Trump’s recent executive orders to submit their stories here.
Refugees lose housing after Trump halts federal aid: The Catherine McAuley Center said it would have to lay off 20 staff members and potentially halt all of its food and housing support of newly arrived refugees in Cedar Rapids after Trump halted all federal aid. (The Gazette 🔒)
After cutting unemployment in past sessions, Iowa Republicans now want to give the growing unemployment fund back to companies. That worries worker advocates. “Taking away worker protections can’t just turn into savings for corporations,” said Peter Hird at the Iowa AFL-CIO. “If the unemployment system isn’t working for workers right now, then we need to fix that before we start giving away the unemployment fund.”
Eggs disappearing from shelves: Largely ignoring the problem of rampant avian influenza and not getting a vaccination program going for workers has led to a new problem: A new strain of bird flu, potentially making this problem worse. (Axios)
The obvious immigration raids aren’t happening, and Art Cullen knows why. If it does begin happening at meatpacking plants, however, goodbye to Iowa’s rural towns.
Iowa union news: 24 workers at the Starbucks in Bettendorf will hold an election to unionize Feb. 26 with Starbucks Workers United. If successful, it would be the third unionized Starbucks in Iowa. (NLRB)
Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:

– Cargill in Eddyville is laying off 29 workers by today.

– John Deere Ottumwa Works is laying off 75 workers by Friday. Read more here.

– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 21 workers by Monday.

– SpartanNash in Glenwood is closing and laying off 23 workers by Feb. 14. Read more here.

– CVS Health in Urbandale is laying off 48 workers by Feb. 15.

– Quad County Corn Processors Cooperative in Galva is closing and laying off 41 workers by Feb. 25. Read more here.

– NSK Americas in Clarinda is laying off 34 workers by Feb. 28. Read more here.

Before you punch out 🍟

Most fast-food workers are not teenagers. They are mostly women. And many have to work multiple full- and part-time jobs just to scrape by on the $7.25-an-hour pay.

None of that is particularly revelatory if you’ve followed the working-class struggle over the decades. But it is notable that newsrooms like the Associated Press are finally putting a spotlight on these hidden workers and what they go through to survive and help their families thrive.

(Send me your book/movie/article suggestions here.)